Ameritrade's Ricketts Says Online Brokerage Growth to Continue
Ameritrade's Ricketts Says Online Brokerage Growth to Continue
New York, Jan. 11 (Bloomberg) -- Ameritrade Holding Corp.
Chairman and Chief Executive Joe Ricketts said the online
brokerage industry is expanding rapidly, with investors likely to
open between 25 million and 30 million new accounts in the next
two to four years.
Ricketts, 58, said there remains a large pool of potential
customers for the online brokerage industry, although he expects
that of the more than 100 online brokers currently competing for
customers only a few will survive.
``We don't have to worry about taking market share from our
competitors,' Ricketts said in a speech at New York's Japan
Society.
``In the brokerage industry, there is a David and Goliath
drama taking place, and I'm quite sure David will win,' Ricketts
said, suggesting that it will be small, flexible online
brokerages that will prevail in the battle for accounts and
assets.
Companies like Reuters Group PLC's Instinet, which plans to
start an online brokerage in April, will find it difficult to
enter the business, he said.
``The competition is already so stiff and tough that anybody
entering the business will have to spend so much money getting in
that it won't be worth it,' he said. ``If they do, I wouldn't
buy their stock.'
Ricketts said his Omaha-based company expects to expand into
Europe and Japan, allowing investors in those countries to trade
online while U.S. investors will be able to trade foreign
securities. Ameritrade will offer online trading of foreign
stocks before rolling out access for foreign investors, he said.
Markets abroad, particularly in Japan, are not as mature as
U.S. markets, Ricketts said, comparing the Japanese attitude on
investing to U.S. investors' perceptions in the late 1950s and
early 1960s.
``They don't have the same history of buying and selling
securities in Japan' as U.S. investors have, he said
When Ameritrade does decide to offer services to foreign
investors, Ricketts said the company would partner with
brokerages familiar with local customs and laws.
Ricketts said he will step down next month as chief
executive of the company he founded, handing the reins to co-CEO
Tom Lewis. Ricketts controls more than half of Ameritrade stock,
worth about $1.8 billion. |
